Question

Which suffix is used to form the comparative degree of an adjective like 'tall'?

• A. A. -est
• B. B. -er
• C. C. -ly
• D. D. -s

Answer 1

Answer:

B. B. -er

Understanding Adjective Degrees

• Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns, providing more information about their qualities.
• They have three degrees of comparison:
  • Positive Degree: Describes a single noun or pronoun without comparison (e.g., tall, beautiful).
  • Comparative Degree: Compares two nouns or pronouns (e.g., taller, more beautiful).
  • Superlative Degree: Compares three or more nouns or pronouns, indicating the highest or lowest degree of a quality (e.g., tallest, most beautiful).

Forming the Comparative Degree with '-er'

• The suffix '-er' is predominantly used to form the comparative degree of most one-syllable adjectives (e.g., tall → taller, fast → faster, big → bigger) and some two-syllable adjectives that end in -y, -le, -ow, or -er (e.g., happy → happier, simple → simpler, narrow → narrower).
• When an adjective ends in 'e', only 'r' is added (e.g., large → larger, wise → wiser).
• If a one-syllable adjective ends in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, the consonant is often doubled before adding '-er' (e.g., big → bigger, hot → hotter).

Other Methods for Forming Comparative Degree

• For most adjectives with two or more syllables (that don't follow the '-y', '-le', etc. rule), the word 'more' is placed before the adjective (e.g., beautiful → more beautiful, difficult → more difficult, expensive → more expensive).
• Some adjectives have irregular comparative forms that do not follow the standard rules. These must be memorized:
  • Good → Better
  • Bad → Worse
  • Much/Many → More
  • Little → Less
  • Far → Farther/Further

Key Points for Competitive Exams

• Avoid double comparatives (e.g., 'more taller' or 'most tallest') as they are grammatically incorrect. Use either 'taller' or 'more tall' (though 'taller' is preferred for 'tall').
• The word 'than' typically follows a comparative adjective when comparing two items (e.g., 'He is taller than his brother.').
• Understanding adjective degrees is fundamental for sentence correction and fill-in-the-blanks questions in English verbal ability sections.